Press release: The First Time Ever Ethnic Minority Scholarship Fair Ignites Hope

FOR RELEASE ON 9 November 2019 The First Time Ever Ethnic Minority Scholarship Fair Ignites Hope for Pursuing Post-Secondary and Higher Education Hong Kong, 9 November 2019 – The Zubin Foundation, a think tank and registered charity working with ethnic minorities today organised the first ever Ethnic Minority Scholarship Fair in Hong Kong. With the goal of providing ethnic minority youth with greater accessibility to scholarships and financial bursaries for higher-education, there is excitement amongst both ethnic minority students, families and scholarship providers.

The Opportunity Bank Ethnic Minority Scholarship Fair was the very first postsecondary and higher education scholarship fair focusing on ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. The Fair was held on 9 November 2019 at the office of global law firm, Linklaters, in Central with over 80 participants and 13 institutions and organisations joining as scholarship providers.

The Fair provided a platform for ethnic minority students and parents to get to know about post-secondary and higher education institutions as well as providers of scholarships and programmes. It also gave providers direct access to their beneficiaries.

Post-secondary and higher education is not a popular option among ethnic minorities. This is mostly because of poverty but in some cases can be because of cultural and familial barriers. With youth aged 18 to 22 in Hong Kong, only about one-tenth of ethnic minorities receive full-time degree education (10.1%), while the ratio is double in the majority population (22.9%).1 “Education is the key to upward mobility. Scholarships – especially schemes which are ethnic-minority-focused – provide our students and their families with hope that there is the possibility of upward social mobility. Many ethnic minority youth would love to study beyond DSE but simply cannot because of poverty.” said Ms Shalini Mahtani, Founder and CEO of The Zubin Foundation.

“Moreover, we advise institutions, corporates, foundations, charities and trusts in Hong Kong to establish dedicated scholarship and bursary schemes for financially disadvantaged ethnic minorities. This is not just about demonstrating a commitment to cultivating cultural diversity and inclusion, but also about tapping into and nurturing local Hong Kong talent,” Shalini added.

Ms Penny Barsha, Corporate Responsibility Manager, Asia of Linklaters said, “It is Linklaters’ pleasure to host Hong Kong’s first ethnic minority-focused scholarship fair. At Linklaters, we are driven to make a difference, not only to our clients, but to the society and world where we live. Scholarships are an effective

1

Research Office, Legislative Council Secretariat. (2018). Statistics Highlights. Education Challenges Faced by South Asians. Retrieved from: https://www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1819issh10education-challenges-faced-by-south-asians-20181128-e.pdf © 2019 The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation Limited (registered charity in Hong Kong - IR 91/12344).

All rights reserved.

FOR RELEASE ON 9 November 2019 means of empowering ethnic minorities and supporting them to transform their lives and the lives of their families.”

- End NOTES 13 Participating Exhibitors (listed in alphabetical order)  Caritas Bianchi College of Careers  Caritas Institute of Higher Education  C-for-Chinese@JC  Hong Kong Baptist University  Hong Kong College of Technology  Hong Kong Unison  Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong  The Education University of Hong Kong  The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology  The University of Hong Kong  Tung Wah College  Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education Access to additional materials — Opportunity Bank Ethnic Minority Scholarship Directory (Post-Secondary and Higher Education): https://fec852e0-797f-4982-8bedd091603e2956.filesusr.com/ugd/da2d17_4cff27feb0384cbe813b09b2f599ed48.pdf - This directory is a starting place to find scholarship in which you may be

eligible. To get access to the Directory, complete the form and we will share the access code with you within 2 working days.

Form: https://forms.gle/LLSDTNSGmZAfNMrUA FOR MORE INFORMATION Sandy Chan Projects Director Tel: 6421 2677 sandy@zubinfoundation.org

Matthew Yu Project Manager Tel: 6084 9333 matthew@zubinfoundation.org

About The Zubin Foundation The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation (also known as The Zubin Foundation) is a non-partisan social policy think tank and registered charity committed to shedding light on enduring barriers to fairness and opportunity Hong Kong. The Zubin Foundation’s focuses on ethnic minorities. The Zubin Foundation was established by Shalini Mahtani and Ravi Gidumal in memory of their son. Zubin, who died tragically in 2009. See www.zubinfoundation.org for more information.

© 2019 The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation Limited (registered charity in Hong Kong - IR 91/12344).

All rights reserved.

FOR RELEASE ON 9 November 2019 About Opportunity Bank Opportunity Bank Ethnic Minority Scholarship Fair is part of the programme under Opportunity Bank, an initiative of The Zubin Foundation. Opportunity Bank is a HUB which connects ethnic minorities with resources such as jobs, upskilling training courses, scholarships as well as healthcare services in a one-stop, easy to access platform. Through a collaboration model with different service providers: corporates/ SMEs, funders, schools, etc., we seek to push for greater transparency and accessibility to information, better allocation of resources and will identify service gaps.

The objective of this initiative is to empower and support the ethnic minority community by enhancing employment and education, reducing poverty, bettering quality of life as a result as well as improving upward mobility.

The initiative is funded by Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund, The Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation and Rusy and Purviz Shroff Charitable Foundation; incubated by Impact Incubator.

© 2019 The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation Limited (registered charity in Hong Kong - IR 91/12344).

All rights reserved.